React, etc. Tech Stack

React, Flux, GraphQL, Hack, HHVM...? All of this and more!

Microsoft released their TypeScript/React boilerplate project

JavaScript projects continue to be burdened with a requirement for a boilerplate project to get the work started. As a view library React has a large number of different options, adding overhead to any project.

The official React starter kit from Facebook improved the situation, but was of no help for those who chose to use React with TypeScript. Now Microsoft has published their own extension to the official started kit to provide a complete starting point to work with TypeScript and React.

The project is available on GitHub and comes with batteries included. It even comes with short introduction to React development as well as React. It offers a complete stack for developing applications from large to small:

There have been great efforts before, such as the MobX, React and TypeScript boilerplate from the MobX project, but they have been 3rd party and maintenance in the long term was not guaranteed. The new boilerplate from Microsoft is building on top of the work of the React team from Facebook AND the TypeScript team at Microsoft, which should make it a lasting solution.

There has been some controversy over React Licensing in the past, but this project is not a direct endorsement for using React - but it is a clear indication that Microsoft itself sees no large issues for using React. The boilerplate project is fully open source and licensed under MIT license, so there are no worries about GPL entrapment that projects like WordPress Calypso can lead to.